


Ti and Kaf

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Other, Shippy Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 12:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7221562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the War, some places work to meet your future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ti and Kaf

The _Ti and Kaf_ shop wasn't really a trend-setting place. In the aftermath of the War, it was one of many businesses begun by clones settling down to peace. This one was named for the Jedi that had guided so many of them to adulthood, and for the elixir of life of most soldiers.

It was a popular meeting place to the veterans, both clone and Jedi, so it made a good place to post meet-ups, missing, want ads, and other bits of news relevant to their community. It was also a good place to start trying to re-enter a life that had been lost, or so the person at the table in the shadowed corner hoped. She had her cloak up over her her head, keeping her eyes hidden in the depths as she nursed a hot cup of kaf, watching the patrons come and go. The only thing of her that really showed were the tips of her fingers. They were of a coppery-orange shade, before gray fingerless gloves and white armor-guards took over, and some habits of observation died hard. 

"Vod, you take the cloak's order?" Tup asked each of the baristas, until he found the right one. "Did you see anything?"

"Not really, vod, but she said _vor'e_ when I served her. Definitely a woman's voice, and decent accent on the word."

Tup nodded, as his suspicions grew, and he moved away to go use the comm discreetly. A few words were exchanged, and then Tup returned to business, just keeping an eye on that corner so he'd know if she left.

The cloaked person was mostly watching the front door, and scanning the small groups of former troops and Jedi, their friends, just getting a feel for what peace time actually felt like. She'd been gone before peace broke out, had actually been far from the war, trying to better herself, but she'd ached to come home.

Home didn't exist, not as it had been.

The troopers looked like they were settling in well, at least at this level. She wondered if there were ones still struggling to adapt, how she could find them, and if they'd even accept her back, so she could help.

"This seat taken?"

The gruff voice was familiar, more than in the timber, and the cloaked woman was startled into looking up.

Blond hair was still kept cropped, and the man was in full fighting condition, even if he was wearing a blue-trimmed black turtleneck and charcoal-colored leggings. The boots and utility belt were the same, though he wasn't wearing the kama with the belt.

"If you want it, you can take it," she said softly, as his dark eyes penetrated the cloak's depth, locking hard on her blue ones. He held her gaze even as he sat in the chair, and she slowly realized he was afraid she was going to vanish. "I'm back, to find my place, hoping — "

She trailed off, and he took in a deep breath, wanting her to continue. When she didn't, he cleared his throat.

"Hoping what?" he pressed.

"Hoping to find my friends, maybe even somewhere that can be home again."

Slowly, he placed his hands around hers on the kaf mug, before he gave a sardonic snort. "The place is crazy, and there's always more brothers there than is on the lease, but I bet you'd find a place to start on all that with us." Then, as if he was worried he'd stepped over a line, he added. "Or, I could give you a few comm codes, for other people you might want to catch up with."

He saw a slow, very small smile touch her lips inside the cloak's concealment. She wasn't showing teeth, and he could feel how restrained she was being, almost as if —

— as if she was as scared as he felt, under all of his nerve for coming as soon as Tup had commed. 

"I think, maybe, home is where you are," she said softly.

"Maybe, with you there, it will be home for real," he answered that, as peace became something more real in those few words they'd shared.

**Author's Note:**

>  _vor'e_ = thanks


End file.
